Bellmead man has been jailed for life without parole for sexually abusing a girl

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – A disabled former financial consultant was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole after being convicted Tuesday of sexually abusing his ex-fiancée’s family member at homes in Waco and Hewitt.

Jurors in Waco’s 19th District Court deliberated for about 15 minutes Tuesday before finding Nathan Andrew Mennenga, 61, guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a young child.

The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for 10 minutes Wednesday before sentencing Mennenga.

While Mennenga was convicted of sexually abusing a girl who is now a 14-year-old freshman, two other women, both members of Mennenga’s family, testified Tuesday that he also abused them when they were young girls.

Prosecutors Jessica Washington and Luke McCowan said in a joint statement after the three-day trial that justice was delayed for decades for two of the victims and justice was denied when the second victim’s claims were not pursued .

“Today, justice was served,” Washington and McCowan said. “And on behalf of these brave survivors, we thank the jurors for making sure no other child has to learn who Mr. Mennenga really is.”

While prosecutors asked jurors for life, defense attorney Walter M. Reaves Jr. argued that the minimum term of 25 years without parole would be more appropriate because he said Mennenga would not live 25 years in prison with a heart and his flawed history. of strokes and diabetes.

McCowan told jurors in summations that the minimum term might be appropriate for a case with only one victim and two known incidents of abuse. However, he said a life sentence was warranted because Mennenga abused three victims and it was important to release him from society to protect those in the community.

Mennenga testified Tuesday during the first phase of the trial and denied the allegations by each of the victims. He did not testify during the penalty phase Wednesday.

The most recent victim, who lives in another state, said she and her siblings visited her grandmother when she lived with Mennenga in Waco and Hewitt. She confessed that she enjoyed visiting them because her mother and stepfather neglected her and her siblings and practically starved them to death. She said Mennenga and her grandmother fed them and took them on trips to the beach and museums.

She said she and her siblings were adopted by a loving family after her mother and stepfather went to prison. She testified that Mennenga sexually abused her twice, when she was 6 in 2016 and when she was 10. She said she woke up both times and realized Mennenga had taken down her panties and was abusing her.

She said she told her grandma, but she didn’t believe her.

“At that point, I really couldn’t tell my grandmother,” she said. “That hurt me. I thought, “These are people I love. How could they not even think twice about what I was saying?'”

She said she eventually stopped coming back to McLennan County to visit.

In other prosecution testimony, a family member of Mennenga, now 27, said Mennenga regularly sexually abused her from the time she was 4 years old until she was 14 years old.

Under questioning from Reaves, the woman said she later recanted her allegations against Mennenga and Mansfield police never arrested him. She said she regretted her decision after learning of his arrest in the other girl’s case.

“I saw the photo shoot and I cried because all I could think about was it happened again,” she said. “I felt guilty about it.”

Mennenga took to the witness stand with a cane as he said he had strokes in 2018 and 2019. After his denials, prosecutors called a second family member to refute his claims. The woman, now 47, testified that Mennenga also entered her bedroom while she was sleeping when she was 6 years old.

She said she woke up and he was “doing” the elastic on her underwear. He got up and left when she woke up, she said.

“I don’t know why he left, but I thank my lucky stars because I know it could have been a lot worse,” she said, telling the jury she didn’t tell anyone about it until years later.

She also said that Mennenga kissed her inappropriately a few years later while they were looking at a photo album.

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